US-Guatemala First Half Thoughts

I’m not sure how many bad clearances Carlos Bocanegra has to make before US coaches begin to look at other options at left center back. I don’t care how many goals Bocanegra scores for Fulham, he just is too inaccurate when clearing the ball to be on the back line. Perhaps he should play holding midfield as he often does for Fulham.

It’s great to see Frankie Hedjuk back on the national team pushing the ball down the flanks and not giving up an inch on the backline. However since Hedjuk can play on the left or right side I would have preferred him on the left side instead of the untested and somewhat scary Jonathan Bornstein. Frankie Simek could have started outside on the right side.

Demarcus Beasley seems to be doing very well wide on the left side although spacing seems to be an issue between Michael Bradley and Benny Feilhaber.

I know Landon Donovan doesn’t want to play wide but he looks so natural out there, he may just have to bite the bullet and play there especially if Dempsey is going to be a striker from here on out for the national team. Besides when Donovan plays in the center of midfield he tends to push wide to the right anyhow.

About Kartik Krishnaiyer

A lifelong lover of soccer, the beautiful game, he served from January 2010 until May 2013 as the Director of Communications and Public Relations for the North American Soccer League (NASL).
Raised on the Fort Lauderdale Strikers of the old NASL, Krishnaiyer previously hosted the American Soccer Show on the Champions Soccer Radio Network, the Major League Soccer Talk podcast and the EPL Talk Podcast.
His soccer writing has been featured by several media outlets including The Guardian and The Telegraph. He is the author of the book Blue With Envy about Manchester City FC.
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